Petrotrin reports oil spill in Soldado field

STATE-OWNED oil company Petrotrin has confirmed that investigations have been launched into an off-shore oil-spill that occurred in the Soldado oil-field during the early morning hours yesterday.

In a media release, the company stated that around 1.47 am, oil was discovered escaping from a tank located at Platform 14, some 15 miles in the Soldado exploration fields. Operators from Petrotrin’s Trinmar Operations were subsequently dispatched and the station was shut down at 3.15 am. “Officials estimated that 245 barrels of oil flowed into the sea, however visual inspections of the area indicate that the spill does not threaten any areas along the coastline,” the Petrotrin release stated. The company noted that “favourable weather conditions” were aiding clean-up operations which included, containment of the spill, clean-up of the platform and recovery operations. The platform was expected to be fully operational by late evening yesterday.

Environmental Mana-gement Authority (EMA) corporate communications manager Neil Parsanlal confirmed that the authority was aware of the situation and would address the issue, after an inspection team returned from a tour of the oil-spill site. Meanwhile, work resumed yesterday at Trinmar Operations, one day after workers downed tools to protest management’s decision to remove the company’s Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) counsellors. Oilfields Workers Trade Union (OWTU) Trinmar branch-president Ancil Roget said workers were still “adamant” that the counsellors be returned to the Point Fortin-based facility. He said the issue would be discussed at a meeting with the company’s representatives. And as for ongoing wage negotiations, Roget said that the company had not budged from its ten percent increase, which was offered after some 43 bilateral negotiations, and which was “rejected outright,” by workers. Union officials have countered with a 22 percent across-the-board wage increase. Negotiations are continuing.